The 1976 English cricket season was the 77th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Clive Lloyd adopted a new approach to Test cricket as a battery of pace bowlers was used to intimidate the England batsmen. Lloyd adopted the tactic after his own team's experiences against Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee the previous year. England's batsmen were no match for Andy Roberts and Michael Holding, but even more worrying was a dearth of effective England bowlers and it was West Indian batsmen like Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge who were the real stars of a long, hot, dry summer. Middlesex won the County Championship.
Honours County Championship – Middlesex Gillette Cup – Northamptonshire Sunday League – Kent Benson & Hedges Cup – Kent Minor Counties Championship – Durham Second XI Championship – Kent II Wisden – Mike Brearley, Gordon Greenidge, Michael Holding, Vivian Richards, Bob Taylor
International series West Indies men
After two drawn games in the first two tests, the West Indians won the remaining three Test matches to convincingly win the series 3–0.
The West Indies cricket team made their tenth visit to England, under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd. The first Test match was played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Viv Richards scored 232 runs for the West Indies in the first innings, and shared a partnership of 303 with Alvin Kallicharran. The West Indies ultimately batted for most of the first two days, and closed their innings on 494. In response, England made 332, avoiding the follow-on; David Steele scored a century. Batting again, the West Indies scored 176 runs, and set England a total of 339 runs to win. England, with only five and a quarter hours left in the match, did not attempt the chase, nor were the West Indies able to take early wickets to give them a chance of winning. The match finished as a draw; writing in the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Norman Preston said that "it was a disappointing performance" from England.
Australia women
The Australian women's cricket team toured England between May and August 1976. The test series against England women's cricket team was played for the Women's Ashes, which England were defending. The series was drawn 0–0, meaning that England retained the Ashes. England won the three-match ODI series 2–1. The second ODI, won by England, was the first women's cricket match ever played at Lord's.
County Championship
Gillette Cup
Benson & Hedges Cup
Sunday League
Leading batsmen 1976 English cricket season – leading batsmen by average Name Innings Runs Highest Average 100s Zaheer Abbas 39 2554 230* 75.11 11 Viv Richards 25 1724 291 71.83 6 Geoffrey Boycott 24 1288 207* 67.78 5 Dennis Amiss 38 2110 203 65.93 8 Clive Lloyd 26 1363 201* 61.95 3
1976 English cricket season – leading batsmen by aggregate Name Innings Runs Highest Average 100s Zaheer Abbas 39 2554 230* 75.11 11 Dennis Amiss 38 2110 203 65.93 8 Gordon Greenidge 38 1952 134 55.77 8 Ken McEwan 38 1821 156 49.21 6 Brian Davison 41 1818 132 56.81 6
Leading bowlers 1976 English cricket season – leading bowlers by average Name Balls Maidens Runs Wickets Average Michael Holding 2037 111 791 55 14.38 Norman Featherstone 2511 141 901 57 15.80 Asif Iqbal 418 12 214 13 16.46 Peter Sainsbury 3435 228 1236 66 18.72 Vanburn Holder 2342 109 1004 52 19.30
1976 English cricket season – leading bowlers by aggregate Name Balls Maidens Runs Wickets Average Geoff Cope 5500 288 2245 93 24.13 Mike Selvey 3867 130 1913 90 21.25 Phil Edmonds 5321 286 2029 88 23.05 Robin Jackman 3382 120 1760 85 20.70 Sarfraz Nawaz 3836 143 1867 82 22.76
References Citations
Sources
Annual reviews Playfair Cricket Annual 1977 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1977
External sources CricketArchive – season and tournament itineraries